1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for communicating information to vehicles from a remote location, and more particularly, to a method and system for communicating audio and visual display messages to a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many instances in which it is desirable to communicate messages to the operator of a vehicle. For example, vehicle manufactures may wish to communicate messages to the vehicle operator to provide reminders to perform periodic maintenance. The upkeep and maintenance of vehicles is essential to maintain a vehicle in good running condition and to maintain the overall reputation of a vehicle manufacturer. If a vehicle malfunctions or breaks down because of user neglect, as opposed to a vehicle defect, not only is the vehicle operator inconvenienced, the reputation of the vehicle manufacturer will be harmed. Thus, as users often neglect to regularly service their vehicles, upgrade their vehicles with improved replacement parts, and in some cases, even forget to replace recalled vehicle parts—it is important to remind users to service their vehicles. In addition to such reminders, vehicle manufacturers may also wish to communicate with vehicle operators regarding lease and loan status, special discounts for vehicle service and replacement parts, and vehicle recall notices.
It is known in the art to communicate broadcast messages using radio signals to many members of the general public. Such messages are not specific to certain vehicle owners, and instead may be received by all vehicle operators within a particular geographic area. These broadcast messages may include both audio and visual display information. For example, a radio station may broadcast a news or entertainment audio program along with an embedded data track that contains an identification of the radio station, the name of the artist or song, and other textual information. This information would be displayed on a visual display within the vehicle. Notably, both the audio and video information is presented continuously to the vehicle operator, i.e., the audio and video information cannot be captured for later presentation. Moreover, the vehicle operator cannot select between the audio and visual formats for presentation.
These known information broadcasting systems are unsuitable for communicating specific messages to the vehicle operator for a number of reasons. First, as noted above, the broadcast messages are communicated to all members of the public, and cannot be targeted for receipt only by specific members of the public, e.g., owners of certain makes/models of vehicles. Second, the extent of content of the visual information is necessarily limited, and would not be appropriate for communicating a lengthy or detailed message. More specifically, it would be impractical for a vehicle operator to receive a lengthy visual message while driving the vehicle, and so visual information is limited to very short, repetitive communications, e.g., a radio station identification. Third, the vehicle operator cannot capture the audio and visual broadcasts for later presentation, such as at a later time when the vehicle is not in motion and it is convenient to review the broadcast message. The audio and visual broadcasts are presented in real time, and if the vehicle operator misses them, communication has failed. Fourth, the vehicle owner does not have any flexibility in choosing between audio and visual formats of the message. The messages are reproduced as they are received, and the vehicle operator cannot select between audio and visual message formats.
As a result, there remains a need for methods that allow for the targeted transmission of audio and visual broadcast messages to vehicle operators and the selective playback of the broadcast messages by vehicle operators at a time and format most convenient to the vehicle operators.